Saturday, February 8, 2020

Samsung plans big comeback with premium smartphones in India


Eight years ago, Samsung became the pioneer in the Indian mobile phone industry with the "Galaxy S3" rolled out of its Noida facility. Today, with the Indian smartphone market witnessing modest growth of 8% (year-on-year) in 2019, the South Korean giant reported rising shipments among the top five brands.
The last 8 years or so have seen Chinese invasion like never before, launching devices with top notch features while taking the average selling point (ASP) further down. The Chinese smartphone brands captured 72 per cent of the Indian market in 2019 compared to the 60 per cent in 2018.

From the very beginning, a premium player, Samsung faced the heat as smartphones became more affordable with each passing year, and players like Xiaomi and vivo captured the affordable mid-premium segments, forcing the company to launch online  exclusive  ' M ' series in the budget segment and revamping the mid-segment ' A ' series, which has so far been a success.

The company understands that it is best known for the RS 30,000 and above segment, starting in 2020 with the launch of the 'Lite' device with its successful premium brands and taking positive steps in the 5g and folding space. With the launch of new flagship models and foldable smartphones, Samsung expects mobile sales to increase on improved product mix.

The business now appears to be back on its luxury path in India, with the introduction of 'Lite' version of S10 and note 10 Lite in the range where OnePlus currently rules.
Samsung aims to improve profits by increasing luxury smartphone sales and improving their mid to low end portfolio profitability.

Tweaking its portfolio would be godsend for Samsung to revive its growth path. In India, Samsung needs to go aggressive in the RS 15000 - RS 35000 segment.

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